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Correction: The Grey Pine tree was misspelled in a previous version of this story.
Due to storm winds and heavy rains, a tree carrying a bald eagle nest at Lake Natoma fell down Sunday morning, according to locals.
The tree was home to a pair of bald eagles named Mama and Papa that have been living there since 2017.
Kathy Kayner is a board member and head of the Bald Eagle Interpretive Program for Friends of Lakes Folsom and Natoma. She said the eagles have successfully hatched 21 eggs since they made the tree their home.
“They would bring in lots of sticks, lots of grass, lots of pine branches, and by February [2017], she would lay her first two eggs in that tree,” Kayner said. “And every year since then, she has successfully hatched babies or eaglets from that tree.”
The fall occurred at 1:32 a.m. according to nest cam footage and the eagles were not in the tree at the drop, Kayner said.
“Usually, Mama likes to sleep on a big limb above the nest itself. But because it was raining and it was windy, bald eagles have a tendency to find cover if they can,” she said.
The tree, a Grey Pine, has been noticeably leaning since 2019 and has been leaning significantly more every year.
The Grey pine tree where the eagles nest resided fell over the weekend due to a storm with strong winds.(Photo by Jim Cassio, president of FOLFAN)With all the rain and strong winds over the last few years, that has facilitated the falling of the tree, Kayner said.
“If a Grey Pine does not put down a long tap root to help support it, it will put out shallow roots,” Kayner said. “And I was told that that tree probably had a lot of shallow roots.”
Kayner was able to locate the eagles Monday afternoon.
“I eventually walked further downstream south, looking for them, and found them in the water near an island taking a bath,” she said.
Neither of the eagles were harmed at the time the tree dropped, Kayner said.
“These eagles are so well loved by everyone,” she said. “There were no eggs, there were no eaglets, no one got hurt. That's a blessing, and that eventually they will find a tree, and that they will start rebuilding, I just don't know when.”
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